[01:50] His father ran a restaurant and got to see highs and lows of running a business first-hand.

[02:38] After Hurricane Sandy, Rahul had to put all his stuff in storage, but he couldn’t find affordable options.

[03:32] He wanted to create a customer-first experience.

[04:30] Make Space is currently in five markets in the United States.

[04:40] They have stored north of 1 million items.

[06:02] Make Space will pick up your items and inventory them for you.

[06:20] Ideally, you won’t pay for more than you need to store.

[07:00] They charge a recurring monthly fee.

[08:20] When Make Space started, they got their first customer after they launched their Yelp page.

[09:05] Brute force, press coverage, and digital marketing helped them gain their first 1000 customers. Referrals were also key.

[11:10] When coming up with names, they wanted it to be one word, but Make Space rose to the top.

[12:40] They worked hard to use tech to streamline their pick-ups and drop-off’s.

[14:45] Rahul knew that getting the business off the ground would be rough and that he needed to be fully entrenched to understand the business’s needs.

[15:40] In the early days, they had a lot of false positives.

[15:52] They realized that what was needed in NYC might not be the same needs for Chicago.

[16:30] Make Space saw great success over the first two years, but when they attempted to expand to other cities, they found they didn’t have the same impact or success.

[17:00] Rahul found that it was important to know what your different customer’s needs are and what each market required.

[19:40] Rahul found that they faced similar challenges that Netflix faced when taking on Blockbuster.

[21:33] The Make Space team found it was helpful to be hands-on in order to figure out what was needed to make the business a success.

[22:30] The tools that Rahul thinks have added value to his life are time-management tools. He’s a single dad and CEO, so it’s important to have a solid schedule. Evernote has proven useful in terms of note-taking, as well.

[25:25] Rahul recommends the book Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio.